Design Around This #17: Steampunk. Post Designs Here

Ta-da. This is the long-awaited thread to post your Steampunk Chic kitchen designs. Have fun, don't feel intimidated and remember you are not being graded at Steampunk Hogwarts!

If you feel you need more time to complete your designs, don't worry about it--the thread will happily wait for you, and we can open a second one if need be. This is probably a hard challenge to find images for, so take your time.

Remember everybody deserves to hear feedback on their hard work, and none of us will take it personally.

This kitchen may not be particularly Steampunk in and of itself, but I tried to do a kitchen that a Steampunker might like. I couldn't really bring myself to do things with fictive function, so I looked at alternate technologies or for things that really worked. It was interesting to me to find Steampunk looking things from a number of eras.

So, everything works, there aren't dials or bulbs or things that light up that don't do anything.

The sets of tiles I thought were interesting because the antique tiles are pictures of antique tiles on tile, and the thermally responsive tiles, like a mood ring are not at all faux Victorian but interesting. Same with the chairs, very modern, but I didn't want to do an uncomfortable but vintage-looking chair, so I chose something new, but robotic-related.

I chose a number of things because they worked in intriguing ways rather than looked like the Victorian version of new tachnology.

All I can say is. . . WOW! Ok, let's see - well, purple is my favorite color, so you've got me with that AGA, counter and wall color, Pal! And those heat sensitive tiles - LOVE them! Although I have to admit that all that pattern makes me dizzy. I do love the color of the backsplash, but that floor would make me trip every time I tried to cross it! Cawaps, I like the color palette in your kitchen, too, and love that floor! Don't think I could ever live with so much pattern in real life, though. I'm finding that the industrial aspect of these kitchens doesn't speak to me at all, so as far as the steampunk aspect, I get it when I see someone else do it, but am having a heck of a time doing it myself. Style DATs are hard for me.

I tried to target the dark aesthetic of steampunk with the black and dark burl walnut. I also tried to really showcase the bold mixture of metals (copper, brass, chrome, oil rubbed bronze) that steampunk seems to embrace. With such a dark palette, I included a lot of lighting in a wide variety of finishes and unmatched styles. The pulley wall fixture is actually functional and adjusts with the wheels. I also tried to include the highly detailed Victorian ornateness with the sink, brackets, hardware, and some of the fixtures. The main cabinetry would be the burl walnut topped with copper countertops. The black cabinetry would be a separate hutch. The backsplash over the copper would be the black penny rounds, while the backsplash behind the range would be the copper penny rounds. The mixed brass and chrome against the black, and the controls on the La Cornue range seemed very Steampunk to me. Some open shelving on ornate black brackets would showcase a few items like the copper pots and coffee maker. Little brass gears would be used as knobs for the upper cabinets. The copper water heater would supply hot water to the kitchen while adding to the Steampunk aesthetic of the kitchen.

I wanted to do something a little different. My understanding of steampunk is that it's based on Victorian times and technology (steam driven engines, etc.) but that technology is used for modern day devices.

So, my kitchen is a Victorian country home...

Katherine is a young married woman, living in the country, on her husband's small estate. This is her favorite painting and she thinks it represents country life, at least hers. From Victorian kitchen with steampunk style

The kitchen is painted white, which is a newer trend in the country, but one Katherine embraces! She's so tired of the dark wood and heavy drapes. So she chooses a lighter, brighter space, but it's still Victorian. From Victorian kitchen with steampunk style

And while technology has made some advances, especially with machines, medicine is still very similar to what it was a hundred years ago. So, it's important to have a large garden and an apothecary, in the pantry...with new lighting. From Victorian kitchen with steampunk style

Finally, here's a view of Katherine's side porch and potager garden. This is where she grows the herbs for the apothecary and vegetables, for the kitchen :) From Victorian kitchen with steampunk style

Mine is going for the dark rich tones I associate with a victorian parlor (bordering on bordello). Probably simpler than real victorian design, but my tastes tend to run more to craftsman. The only real steampunk element are the gauges over the refrigerator, which would be hooked up to sensors to display the internal refrigerator/freezer temps (easy enough to do).

I so wanted this to work but am CLEARLY having issues.
Part of the problem is I detest steampunk. Forgive me
Marcolo. I have never fit into Steampunk.
I feel the urge to go in and clean up any steampunk room
I see. I want to redress the ladies in their stupid
leather and lace. I want to dust, get the bleach out
and scrub away. Toss out the metal peices and excess.
A chaos that needs to be reorganized and straightened up.
I feel dirty in a steampunk room.

So fire away and even edit for me. I could use your help.
Help me. Please help me with this fugly kitchen.
~boxerpups

Boxer- Don't feel bad...steampunk is not a 'pretty' look, IMHO. First of all, it's Victorian (which is often a bit heavy-handed, for my taste) and then the steampunk, feels like a SciFi novel, on steroids.

That's one reason I did a country Vicorian home...at least I could add the garden and try to keep the 'tech' to practical items, that would have been a big advantage, back then.

I don't really know how to 'critique' any of these kitchens. This is one DAT, where I think everyone should get an "A" for effort! :)

If it feels dirty, it's not good Steampunk. It should be bright, shiny and new! Any antiques should be polished up, cleaned and waxed to a faretheewell, so they're as if new (not that nasty dirt=patina thing that most antiquers value). It is, as LL said, heavy, with dark rich colors and layered patterns, and heavy curtains between the windows and the fog...erm...sunlight. But there are also bright electric lights, vacuum cleaners, and if there were a carryover of Victorian cleaning, it would be the taking the beds apart and cleaning them with kerosene, not the Maccassar stains, pipe smoke and bathlessness. The whole point is to be hopeful and new in an anti-Modern way. Though, for verisimilitude, the aroma of the paterfamilias might be bay rum and peppermints. :) They do still sell bay rum (it's aftershave):

Palimpsest Interpreted Steampunk: There are a lot of things I like about this kitchen, but taken as a whole it doesn't read "Steampunk" to me (statement to be taken with a whole shaker of salt given the divergent opinions on the style). And I think it is because it doesn't read "Victorian" to me. The chairs, while cool, read contemporary; Sputnik lamps are iconically mid-century.

Leaving that aside, I really like the purples in the kitchen, and the patchwork of tile. I've looked at the color change tile before, and it is a neat technology that looks good with the other kitchen elements. The wallpaper is fabulous. Obviously, I liked the lift table--it seems like such an eminently practical item to have in a kitchen to the point where I was thinking I should look for one IRL.

Pricklypearcactus walnut & black: I love the way the dark colors evoke the recent goth interpretation of Steampunk. The burlwood is gorgeous. I know you added extra lighting because of the dark colors, but I still feel it needs something to lighten it up (the images are presented on a white backgroun and it looks great but when I imagine them without that to lighten it up, it seems opressive). I like the pennyrounds--I'm working on another kitchen with brass pennyrounds (great minds, I guess).

Lavender Victorian country home: Sweet space. I don't know if it was part of why you chose the pic, but I like the tin backsplash in the cabinet photo. I really like the chandelier. I'd like, though, to see you break out of your comfort zone sometime on one of the DATs. It's great that you have a clear vision of what YOU like, but would you consider designing a kitchen for someone whose tastes aren't like yours? Say, a very masculine space, or somthing urban/industrial. Just a thought...

I have helped 'individuals' (like my mom) with a specific style, but it's much easier to decorate for a person, than a theme. She likes painted wicker/Asian accents/plants/tons of books...with a bit less 'romantic' look and more of a practical (almost 60s/70s) look.

Oh, and western I really like...anything with John Wayne and tan sofas...which is probably unexpected, after most of my posts! :)

Gregincal Dark Rich--I like the simplicity of this one. It's dark, but not so much as pricklypear's. I like the quilted copper in the backsplash. What's over the hood? It looks like a cross between a fish trophy and a Steampunk airship.

Boxer--I empathize with your problems. It's hard enough to find any images, much less images that work harmoniously together. So here is my constructive advice: Lose the industrial cabinets. They evoke the 20s-30s more than the Victorian era, and lack the decoration that is the hallmark of Steampunk (I say this from experience, since I have a disappointing board that uses similar items, and it just never came together). The red meneghini is great, but I don't think the red plays well with the copper. One or the other, but not both. I love the tapestry and the lighting fixtures, and think that a lot of the rest could work with a little tweaking.

I was going to stay out of the crit since I'm not producing a design myself (I come here to give my design brain a rest), but I'm about to burst, and I have to rebut Cawaps (whose look is spot on) a bit:

Outburst: That mauve has got to go!! It might be authentically Victorian (I don't know for sure), but unless you're specifically trying to rewrite the rules, like LL, to be very girly (which the other finishes aren't), it is just wrong!!!

Phew. Now I feel better. :)

Re rebuttal, I get what Cawaps said, and what's on the screen doesn't gel so well as a Steampunk room, but when I subtract the offending mauve (in my mind it's bright candy apple instead, but leaving the purple tiles), and place all the elements in scale, it does work pretty well. I'd also move the art piece vehicle thing to the other room unless it was meant to be baby's walker. It's a bit tripoversome for a kitchen unless it's under a foot high (it looks much bigger), and even so, it's hard to clean. I think the rest works very well. I agree that it's not as Victorian as much Steampunk is, but the ways in which it isn't are wonderfully Steampunkian. The tiles depicting antique tiles are a hoot, and the mood ring backsplash and hose radiator are definitely items to warm a Steampunk's heart. Maybe that's the thing! It's more Steampunk punk than Steampunk chic? More about being Steampunk than looking it?

(So where can I find a regency ladder table? For my library? I have a flip chair, but it's not nearly so cool...)

I would change the AGA to black, I picked the light purple one because it went with the tile and the countertop material, and I was originally thinking of doing a purple and green encaustic floor and I didn't like it.

The mechanical bicycle thing is huge (the skeleton is life-size) and also $20K or something like that, so it could easily be deleted.

The fixture isn't really a sputnik, it's made by a company whose fixtures are primarily early-industrial-repurpose.
I picked this because, like Tik-tok of OZ, its' body is a copper orb.

I picked the chairs because of their robotic limb connections. I couldn't pick a chair for Steampunk that just looked Victorian.

I ran across these cabinets in the Crown Point gallery and thought that they would suit a little bit flashier Steampunk kitchen.

Crown Point cabinetry
Floor is a photo of an actual Victorian tile floor, restored by the folks at www.floorer.co.uk
Same sink and faucet I used before, coppersinks.com and Danze Opulence bridge style faucet
Fratelli Onofri range
Alloy penny brass tiles from Architonic.com
Renoir Old World Spherical hood from HandcraftedMetal.com
Vintage copper and brass lighting fixture from V&M vintage and modern
La Pavoni espresso maker
Morphy Richards Accents copper toaster
Refrigerator from AntiqueVintageAppliances.com
Empire star wallpaper from Bradbury & Bradbury's neoclassical roomset
Vintage copper/brass fire extinguisher from AtlantaAntiqueGallery.com (I don't know if this could be recharged, would lose it if it can't)
South German Biedermeier dining table from 1stDibs.com
Austrian Biedermeier side chairs from 1stDibs.com
English Aesthetic Period Cabinet from 1stDibs.com
19th century ornate bronze five-light chandelier from 1stDibs.com
Donkin ship's telegraph from AntiquesoftheSea.com, which I want to wire up as the dimmer switch for the chandelier.

This is my first time trying this, and I want to thank all of you for introducing me to Olioboard and for entertaining me so much in the past. I love Jules Verne! so I had to try my hand at this. No design experience (obviously!) and my taste is pretty odd, so steampunk is right up my alley.
Here's the backstory:
Alethia and Todd met at at Star Trek convention and found out they were both graduate students at Cal Tech. While touring a 19th century ship on a date, they discovered a shared love of steampunk, and after a lenghty courtship involving much attendance at costume parties, Todd finally screwed up the courage take to bended knee and ask Alethia to be his wife.

Alethia dropped out of school to run her thriving Silicone Valley startup software business which produces an app that transforms the ipad into a yoodad. One touch shifts money from a person's trust fund to their charity or cause of choice and instantaneously advertises the donation to Facebook, Google+, and a new social networking site started by Todd called Trustyoo. You've read about them in the Wall Street Journal.

They have no children and this is their first home together. The sky's the limit on their kitchen/dining room remodel. Neither knows which is the business end of a frying pan, although Alethia once made cupcakes decorated to look like certain body parts.

They live in San Marino, CA, and asked their designer to give them a kitchen/dining area using Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea as inspiration. The rest of the house is eclectic, including a secret room behind a bookcase in the library and a room full of vintage NASA paraphernalia. When a wall-sized aquarium was nixed by local building codes, they settled for a smaller version framed by a porthole in the dining room.

The stove is a woodburning range cooker which also heats water, but the pizza delivery number is right by the phone and there's a microwave in the butler's pantry.

They chose the plain black Whirlpool Gold Star dishwasher and bottom freezer refrigerator. The sink and counters are soapstone and the faucet is brass "Metropolitan" from Elements of Design. The backsplash is Castlemetal's aged copper clover insert.

In the dining room, they have Graham and Brown "Desire" teal wallpaper and several ornately framed original marine life prints. A "Peking Emerald" Aubusson rug in teal and Victorian oak table and chairs from Christie's along with a curiosity cabinet stocked with sea oddities.

The lighting includes two ship's lamps in copper and brass over the kitchen peninsula and a large pulley lamp over the dining room table. Green glass wire insulators and copper tubing make up the chandelier in the kitchen.

Hosenemesis 20,000 Leagues: Very nice! I love teal and you've done a nice job capturing a Victorian feel while still creating a usable modern kitchen. I was thinking about something Nautilus inspired but it took a serious left turn and turned into the blue kitchen above (nothing submarine-y left). Congratulations on your first DAT! Glad you could join the fun.

Did you see the Nautilus home theater at the link below? I loved the whatever-they-are--supports/brackets/corbels.

Around the perimeter of the kitchen runs a working model steam locomotive. Mini brass track lights hang below. An electrified Victorian gas fixture is suspended below the train engine, so you can move an extra source of light anywhere you want it.

The sink has exposed brass wall mounted plumbing. Hard to represent accurately, but there should be separate brass lines mounted on the surface for Hot, Cold, Instahot, Filtered and soap dispenser hooked up to a NeverMT. The soap dispenser plastic tubing is simply fed through the brass pipe.

Each gauge actually measures something, either water temperature or the level of soap in the Never MT.

Pneumatic tubes on the right can be used to transport canned goods or bulk goods--I imagine canned goods would be in the basement, bulk goods would be in the lowers. These still work, apparently, and can be powered by a Miele canister vacuum. I am stealing this idea from Bruce Rosenbaum who wants to use the them to transport blood pressure medication to the kitchen table, so I hear.

On the left is a Victorian-style drinking fountain, which you can still buy new, to provide fresh, cool filtered water away from the cooking zones. Really, why not have a drinking fountain in your house?

This is a Taiwanese induction cooktop with gold decorative printing dropped into a 19th century french table. Surrounding the cooktop is a brass frame. The oven is real, it's Smeg but not available in the US.

Seating is a repurposed Victorian carriage seat, paired with a table that sold on eBay. The table works; turn the crank and the height adjusts. The chandelier is made from bicycle chains.

Floor is encaustic, obviously.

So, everything steampunky actually works and most of it would be pretty easy to do, if you were handy.

Marcolo Model Train: I like your lighting design; using the railroad track is a clever idea. I never thought of pneumatics, and the look of that is spot on. I also really like your concept for the induction cooktop. It's a very usable idea--Victorian butcher's tables/baker's tables with marble tops are readily available, although not as ornate as your table. The Smeg is a great find (why not available in U.S.?--rhetorical question). The bike chain chandy is cool.

About my design...I'm still not sure how many gadgetry things one needs in a room to make it Steampunk. I decided to take a little more of a conservative approach on doohickeys. It was very hard to find things Steampunky in the colors or feel of the room so you will have to pretend that the lighting is put together in a Steampunk way and that the little grouping of picture mirror frames on the left are made with spare mechanical parts.
Hosenemosis, I like your design but is it brooding enough? Is Steampunk meant to be a bit brooding? I have NO idea and that's why I hate having to make a comment on things I don't know enough about.
Marcolo, very cool! I could probably live with it because I like the red cabinets and floor. Is it a true Steampunk? I have no idea.

Jterrilyn, I was wondering how a lesbian couple's kitchen would differ from anyone else's, and now I know :). I think that the Gibson Girl backsplash really works, and the painting (poster?) fits the client. I like the balance of colors, and I love the chandelier! The sofa reads too mid-century to me. I like the red leather on it, but the frame is very angular and not ornate enough to fit the Victorian style.

Oops, I forgot to mention the wall paint color would be a soft cream that worked with the floor (see the splotch to the left of the Viking fridge). I agree with you, cawaps, that the white background is helping lighten up the design and I hope a cream wall color would have the same impact in an actual kitchen. And so I decided to go with a cream paint, but I completely forgot to mention it in my writeup. Why, GW, can't we edit our posts?! I considered a black and white tile backsplash (instead of the black penny rounds), but couldn't find one that seemed right.

palimpsest - (purple) This purple isn't my favorite shade, but I like what you've done anyway. The wall and floor tiles are very cool. And I love the light fixture and table. The only thing not working for me are the chairs. They seem of the wrong era, but perhaps that's just because they remind me of an office desk chair.

cawaps - (#1) I really like the intense use of color and pattern in this one. It really works. (#2) Love this with the blue Crown Point cabinets and range. Again the combination of colors and patterns is fantastic.

hosenemesis - I really enjoyed yours as well, especially with the deep green and the port hole to the dining room.

marcolo - I really like the overall of this one. I especially like the black subway tiles and the gauges. The Smeg oven is perfect.

Is it weird that all of these functional gauges really appeal to me? In fact, with no intention of doing any kind of steampunk kitchen for myself, I would love having accurate gauges throughout my kitchen telling me stats on temperatures (fridge, water, range, etc) and pressure. (Though I doubt I really will.) When my significant other and I were appliance shopping a few years back, he really wanted a very expensive professional style fridge that had gauges on the outside. Unfortunately it was out of our budget and wouldn't fit in our space or I'm certain it would have come home with us.

Cawaps, sorry I did not save most of products info. The chandelier is a Scheherazade. The wallpaper is Ashford "Pucker Up".
The Steampunk laptop is a real modern working laptop I found on some geek site. The cabinets upper and base along with glass inserts were different parts I found online. The colors were changed and I added the glass via Corel paintshop. The background is Victorian lace curtains that I envisioned flanking the walls with green painted walls showing through and with the two women/painting suspended in front of that...all of which is behind the banquet seating that of which I made two little pillows in Victorian fabric. The countertops are marble, the same that's in the floor with the inserts. The painting covered in glass behind the range is surreal and depicts the shape of a woman's pelvic opening through hand gesture and has significance when teamed with the "flowering" flower and the edgy undercurrent theme.
I am a bit of a rebel and couldn't resist the banquet seat; I did find it on a site that mentioned it was borderline Steampunk. To me it could work due to its colors and invented look along with the Victorian themed pillows.

Palimpsest purple: The color does not work for me, though it occurred to me that the right velvet draperies could ameliorate the situation. However, the sheer inventiveness of the objects is steampunk on steroids. I urge everybody to read pal's list of materials below--it's the most important part. The mood ring backsplash, the flexible hose radiator: they're all so cool. My one quibble might be that a true steampunker might put more handmade inventions in a kitchen, rather than purchased materials.

cawaps, the look is spot on. The entire Meneghini line is extremely steampunk to me--they have fridges with portholes and hidden functions and all that, although their aesthetics often postdate the Victorian era. What I want to see is more repurposed salvage.

prickly, great look throughout. Love the function of the pulley wall fixture, although gears as knobs reminds me of that Youtube a bit.

LL, it's probably about time for a feminine take on steampunk!

gregincal, very coppery pretty. Love the fridge gauges.

Boxer, don't cry! Just get out your polishing rag!

Cawaps2, I HATE that blue kitchen on the CP website, but you improved it significantly with other materials that are as whacked out as it is.

hosenemesis, that copper and green palette is awesome.

jterrilynn, you certainly captured the punk, although I'd like a little more steam. It has a strong point of view, which is excellent. I do think the seating and table are something else, though.

I'm sort of curious who has, and has not, seen steampunk in person. I live in spitting distance from Waltham, MA which calls itself America's Steampunk City. That's related to a mix of its heritage as America's "Watch City" plus lots of art students and engineering nerds. Anyway, I saw a steampunk exhibit yesterday, and bought a couple of things for my office. I was going to take pictures but it feels wrong to post art on the Internet--copyright issues. There was an astonishing, huge clock there, made up of almost nothing but gears and wheels, and it was beautiful, with great fit and finish. Nothing rusty or grubby at all.

Gah! Swoon! You all are amazing. Love the variety of colors and treatments, the historic touches, the whimsy. So glad to see some FUN kitchens that don't take themselves so seriously, but still are seriously cool. GREAT job, all!

Marcolo, I actually had to go back and look at the original Crown Point phot of the blue kitchen, because I couldn't remember what it looked like before the changes. Yeah, I didn't like it either. But at the time, I was working on a Nautilus-inspired kitchen, and I think the blue cabinet subconsciously reminded me of a 19th century naval uniform. I think losing the mural over the range was a big step in making the cabinets more palatable.

I would love to do more repurposed salvage but was thwarted by my ability to find images that match my imagination. Lots of ideas got scrapped when I couldn't make the board look like I wanted. Maybe if I had Photoshop...

I actually like my purple colorway *Least out of the Steampunk boards presented but I had started out looking for a range other than black that went with the faux embossed tile, and once I got to the mood tiles that seemed to have purple, I went with it.

I also have some biases against some of the alternatives that would've worked. When I was in design school, one of my instructors professed a hatred of tints of viridian or green earth not because they were bad colors, but because every single 19th century interior in the city seemed to have been covered in it at one time or other. And my own experience has been that this may not be an exaggeration. Both units I owned in this complex were covered with it, walls, woodwork, everything and so were some others that have been stripped back to reveal 19th c. work. The buildings that burnt in the neighborhood 4? 5? all seem to have this underneath as they are gutted. It's depressing in so much quantity.

One thing that I have noticed is, that since people are really trying to stick to the Victorian palette here, is that we have really become afraid of saturated color, and the use of saturated color and pattern together. We like everything in lighter colors and then lit up like an airport runway besides. I would say that until maybe the Post War era, we were content to be in relative darkness when we were inside.

I think any of the colorways presented could be adapted to a traditional, non Steampunk (meaning non-mechanistic) kitchen, but I am not sure the typical person has the bravery, or perhaps the long-term affection for so much saturated color + pattern. I probably don't. If I went saturated I would probably go mono- or di- chromatic.

I would love to see an encaustic floor (in addition to the occasional BW version) in an otherwise modernist interior.

I am also a bit jealous of the Europeans with their more interesting looking refrigerators and wall ovens.

Palimsest, you make a number of interesting observations here. I have also been enjoying the color. I didn't know how neutral the fashions had become and was a bit surprised by it when I began visiting this forum.

I also had a very hard time finding good images, since there is very little Steampunk in commercial production. I couldn't represent some of my ideas without having Disney come after me for copyright infringement.

Pal's "The Mauve Age" kitchen was tied for most fun to read about with Marcolo's. All of the hardware (I want those knobs) the faucet! that bizarre little clock just made me drool. The radiator and switch plate ideas were cool too. I envisioned the mauve kitchen with black and white and a big open wood beam ceiling with silver ducting overhead and brass pipes. I think it works. The idea of the tiles was fun, but I didn't like the saturated colors so much with the mauve. The table is perfect, but the console table reminded me of Rodchenko and Proletcult art rather than 19th c.

Cawaps Very Victorian kitchen: what caught my eye was that little table! What a neat little thing that is. This kitchen made me even happier that I was not a Victorian woman- all of the different colors and patterns make my head hurt. Do they really make those fridges?

Prickly's Most Beautiful Steampunk Kitchen: I want this kitchen. The color scheme is rich and beautiful, the cabinets are so fine, the range- all of it is stunning. It looks Steampunk, but it's so pretty! The pulley lamp is the bomb.

Lavender Lass's Victorian Haha: Love the funny stuff! The phone, the computer- cute! If your woman was a proper LADY though she would never spend a moment in that kitchen or garden- she'd have the help do that.

gregincal: Another beautiful kitchen. It makes me want to light up a cigar just looking at it. I love the idea of the gauges on the fridge, etc. The Nautilus is a nice touch- I wish I'd thought of it. These boards all make me realize how much I love copper and brass. That fridge is another 'that can't be real' fridge.

Boxerpups Fugly Kitchen: That is one ugly kitchen. My favorite parts were the coppery wall color and the metal cabinets that look so grungy, especially paired with those lamps! The red thing (that's a fridge?!!?? how cool) looks like it could have clothes spinning around in it too. I don't care for the fire engine red with the copper, though. I don't like the rastafarian tiles on the copper hood, either.

Cawaps Blue Nautical Crown Point Kitchen: I love these colors. The brass tiles don't show well on my computer, but I love the idea of them. The dimmer switch idea is really inventive!

Marcolo's Steampunk Wonder: This one ties with Pal's as the most fun to read about. The steam locomotive is pure genius- and the vacuum tube thing- creative representation! You captured all of the fun and inventiveness of steampunk here- the induction cooktop is sheer genius. I love the table it's on- for real, what a cool thing that is! The bicycle chain light is not only cool it's pretty.

jterrilyn's Steamy Kitchen: I liked the color theme here and the light is gorgeous. The visual innuendos are a lot of fun- very creative. I like the weird looking backsplash. Kind of creepy, but kind of neat, especially since she is presiding over food, which you eat. I'll stop there.

The vulva-shaped mirror has me thinking too. Quite an intriguing thing, intentional or not. These are lesbians, who are defined by their sexuality, and you look into a vulva-shaped mirror and your identity, your face, is framed by it. Wow. It gets too deep for me at this point.

The kitchen is not very steampunk to me, though, I think because the painting is too modern.

I hope I didn't miss anyone, and thankyou to all for the entertainment and the ideas.
Renee

Renee, the fridge in my first board and the red one in Boxer's board are both Meneghinis. It's an Italian brand, and as far as I can tell not distributed in the U.S. But extremely cool. The blue one is an ice box that was converted into a refrigerator.

Renee- Unfortuanely (for the upper class) the gains in technology have freed the servant class...and now we're all working in our own gardens, again. Luckily, Katherine enjoys it! LOL

I like the teal, in your kitchen! It looks like you're under water and I love the porthole and range.

Pal- I like the purple! The range is great, but I like Marcolo's idea about heavy velvet drapes...hopefully, also in purple. Maybe a marble backsplash? With the dining area...some cool 'Captain Nemo' chairs...maybe with some brass? would look great! Just an idea :)

Marcolo- Thanks :)

Love the kitchen! I knew you had something big planned...and you didn't disappoint. Great finishes and combination and while I don't really 'get' steampunk...this is what I'd say was it!

Jterrilynn- LOL! I had to laugh at your description...because with that picture, I imagined this was going to be a 'steampunk bachelor pad'. Neat looking range, too.

Cawaps- The blue kitchen is wonderful! The (icebox?) is prefect and all the gadgets are fun, too. In the earlier kitchen...I really like your range! And the chairs are beautiful.

Boxer- Your kitchen is not Fugly (LOL) but I do think the copper colors are taking away from that beautiful red icebox! Maybe bring in more gray, black, brass (?) instead of the coppper and you'll be happier with the space :)

Greg- Neat kitchen! I can see someone actually living with this one. The steampunk influence is a bit light...but the appliances more than make up for it, IMHO.

Prickly- Very nice. The black and dark wood go well with the ornate Victorian details (like that door knob!) and the copper 'steampunk' small appliances are great. I like that coffee maker...very cute...and all the lighting.

Gee it's so annoying not to find the stuff that's in my head for my design so I'll have to get into inventing my own. I have re-adjusted some of the flaws in my design by inventing a kooky Victorian gossip bench using antique Victorian iron work. My husband loves the design a little too much so I told him not to start having dreams or anything lol. I actually know a gal and her mate who would really like this kitchen (I think).
Will it work now with the gossip bench adjustments? I want to get this right before I move on.

I saw a quote that defined Steampunk as "Goths discover brown" (or sepia) (http://www.tor.com/blogs/2009/10/steampunk-101). This is kind of a riff on that, focusing on blacks and browns. I was able to use a lot of items I had found that didn't seem to fit into the other more colorful boards. I wanted a striped wallpaper in brown & black, but wasn't able to find the right colors to work with the floor and counter.

Awesome. I went back to an old GW thread about steampunk and much to my dismay somebody else (forget who) suggested pretty much the same thing. However, I will continue to retain full credit for this idea, since I originally offered it many years ago (not saying how many) when a corporation was planning new office space for an in-house advertising department and wanted "out-of-the-box" ideas. At the time there was a lot of paper traveling between offices and the locomotive was going to automate that. (In the end, of course, the only unusual element they put into that space was a set of very low interior office windows that allowed passing male executives to leer deeply up the skirts of the female graphic designers on their high chairs. The women, to their credit, immediately put up butcher paper and made no effort to prettify it. Anyway.)

I am very, very tempted to do an Art Deco Streamline-era riff off of steampunk. Some steampunk artists are already moving in this direction--keeping some elements of actual steampunk, such as shiny, pretty, repurposed and highly imaginative, but simply switching the era and aesthetic.

Marcolo, I like the idea of Streampunk.I collected some items that fit better in that aesthetic than into Steampunk.

I keep thinking of Tomorrowland at Disneyland (which is neither Steam nor Streampunk, but its own evolving thing). The look of the area changed over the years, but was had lots of white and silver when I first went. In 1998 they did a major overhaul and did kind of a retro-future look that I though of as Flash Gordon with lots of bronze, gold and brown. Some of the sculptural elements are a bit reminiscent of Steampunk.

Marcolo, don't feel bad. Come to L.A. and dine at Matteo's, you can sit where Sinatra always sat (though I think they took down the brass plaque when they updated the interior.) The train is still there, though, and if you're nice, I'm sure they'll turn it on for you....

Jterrilynn, the mirrored cabinet is the refrigerator, a conversion of a vintage icebox.

I like your latest, but I'm frustrated with the resolution! I can't see things well enough to tell what they all are. I like the overall look and colors, and the stripes (wallpaper?) are sort of what I originally had in mind for the sepia kitchen (and I might re-do it if I can something in the right colors). The chandy looks a lot like the one Marcolo used--is it also from bike chains, or is the resemblance superficial?

Plunging in! Not sure about this, had a hard time with a vision because this is definitely not a style I like.

First, my apologies to hosenemesis - I had been working using the same kitchen image as you when you posted. But by then I just couldn't imagine changing and starting all over.

So here goes:

table - by furniture designer Giancarlo de Astis, made of a jet engine turbine and walnut
armchair - VandM.com
refrigerator - Elmira Stove Works
clock - overstock.com
barstool - hometone.com - made from recycled bike parts
Sonoma Forge faucet
copper backsplash - googled image
range - googled image - probably you guys can identify it, I don't know ranges
Encaustic floor tiles from New York from Solar Antique Tiles
green wallpaper - googled image
rose-colored wallpaper - blackrockboutique.com
sconce by Art Donovan
Repurposed Antique Glass Hemingray Insulator Pendant Light from relique.com
tea-maker - science museum.org.uk - here's what they say about it:
"The original design of this machine was built by Albert E Richardson, a clockmaker from Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. The patentee of the machine and maker of this example, Frank Clarke, a Birmingham gunsmith, purchased the original machine and all rights to it from Richardson for an undisclosed sum. It was heated by methylated spirits which would be lit by the automatic striking of a match. This action was initiated by the sounding of the alarm clock, which rang again when the tea was ready. A wooden base holds the alarm clock, kettle tilter and methylated spirit stove. Although ingenious, the heavy reliance on the match being lit at the correct time made the machine potentially dangerous. Made by the Automatic Water Boiler Co." - cool but scary!

That teapot thing is amazingly cool, and the copper and green color scheme works. Might be a bit too many patterns even for me, though.

The steampunk booth at the art show I went to last weekend was absolutely packed, more than any other area, and it drew all kinds of people.

If I may be so bold, I think one reason why people aren't comfortable with this style is that they are approaching it from the wrong assumptions. It's not about taking a Victorian kitchen and making it "punk." It's about being imaginative and inventive. Rather than designing a Victorian kitchen and then shopping for steampunk art or furniture online, it is a lot more fun to go to eBay and salvage websites, find pretty old Victorian mechanical objects and then try to imagine a completely new use for them.

I'm not comfortable with this style because I experience sensory overload. In every design on this board there are elements that I like very much but in each case taken all together it is too much for me too take in and I am left feeling overwhelmed.

I do wish I had the time and talent to do a design board in homage to a beautiful little steam launch that plies the waters around the San Juan Islands in Washington State. It is named Rainbow with colors to match. I (as much as I'm able) imagine the steam engine on a wall outside the kitchen and supplying hot water for the kitchen. I would assign someone to blow the whistle at noon each day. The kitchen would be in a few primary colors - very few textures. The title would be 'steam but not punk'. :)

Orcasgramma, that what it's like for me too...sensory overload. I tried to keep my designs in one frame because of the sensory thing.
Marcolo, I do get what you mean about a new use for items, its something I most always do anyway but I still can't warm up to this style. I am enjoying the learning process part though.

I don't see sensory overload as an element of steampunk at all. Bruce Rosenbaum's house (I posted it online in the other thread) is fairly simple in design--it's the repurposed Victorian mechanicals that set it apart. The rooms that house the craziest contraptions (like his office) have, IIRC, neutral paint. I have seen far, far busier Victorian patterns in Old House Interiors magazine than I ever have at a steampunk exhibit.

Purplepansies copper & green: Even though you started with the same base kitchen as Hosenemesis, you ended up with very different kitchens. That turbine table is fabulous! In fact, all your steampunky items are great, including the Rube Goldberg-esque teapot. I think the barstool would be quite at home in Marcolo's proposed "Stream"-punk--it has great Art Deco lines.

I noticed more duplications of items and images than usual on this thread (I used the same table as Pal, and several of the things I used showed up in other people's boards). I attributed it to us all using the same search terms, and those searches turning up a paucity of usable images (compared to some of our other topics).

Here's the old list of topics, updated with Florantha's suggestion. I've been keen to do the one based on fashion; the art suggestion is up the same alley and I think would be fun and interesting. There's been ongoing interest in recycled/upcycled, too.

Defining the Home
Spanish Colonial Revival
Craftsman
Prarie School
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
Pimp this kitchen (choose home/kitchen from real estate listing)
Beach House
Mash-up house (what do you do with a house that is already a mash-up of styles, like a Mission-style Queen Anne)

Theme/Decorating Styles
Eclectic
Starting from clothing fashions as your inspiration pic, design a kitchen that suits the era/mood/style
Starting from a piece of artwork, design a kitchen that incorporates and is inspired by the art
Scandinavian

I've been collecting images but got stuck on the wall color, dining room table and chairs, and now we're leaving for the weekend so here it is sans those three things (and a floor too, now that I look at the pic).

I really like the trapeze lighting that I found (I think it's in Australia; they seem to have cool lighting there).

The island is the, um, gurney? from Young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder. Looked too cool to pass up! I think the range would look better with copper and bright brass instead of copper and SS, same for the hood.

I haven't wanted to look at others' designs until mine was done, though I'm sure I could've benefited from the further education of seeing them all, and I look forward to reading the whole thread later!

It would have cohesion in a way in that it could be an exercise in finding inspiration from things that interest you, weather that is fashion, art or other. Although a thread like that might take it all to a higher level it is the beginning part of finding inspiration for a remodel that stumps many. I think a lot of people look at what others are doing to get started but why not try to encourage looking at something you already have or want or a time in life that made you happy...but have a spring board piece of art or fashion or interest as the theme.
I'm just not sure how you would title the post.

For the fashion thread, I was thinking that everyone would pick a fashion image and build on that, like the flapper dress in the 20's thread or the Ann Boleyn portrait in the Tudor thread (although I thing someone figured out it wasn't really Ann). The fashion would inspire the design of the kitchen but also hopefully be connected to the style and/or era of the house (Tudor fashion for a Tudor revival, mod mini-dress for an uber-hip 60s house).

For artwork, here's what Florantha suggested, snipped from the the "About" thread:

"How about asking the designer to integrate a piece of art into a kitchen design and require that a certain number of kitchen design features be inspired by the art? And let the designer choose the piece?

OR

Pick a single art piece for all to work with (agreeing on the piece might be hard, though.)"

I think we get more participation on the threads where there is more flexibility, so I would lean toward letting the designer choose. But maybe that's not enough cohesiveness?

I'm really interested in the following.
- Spanish Colonial Revival
- Artwork Inspiration - I could imagine the designer choosing a specific piece, presenting a picture of it, and then presenting a design based on it. I think the flexibility would encourage participation and be a lot of fun.
- Eclectic
- Beach House

I would love to see colorful kitchens like in Mexico or Spain which have rustic elements but used differently than the rustic modern thread. Steam punk was a bit kooky.. Some interesting choice of elements but really not something I expect to see ever in real life.

Fashion is probably the category that is oldest with the most votes, so I would would say fashion or art inspiration.

We've done modern rustic, and I think that many of the kitchens have been colorful or eclectic, so while these are good topics, we may be repeating some general inspirations kind of soon if we go with one of those right now.

I'm ok with fashion and art. But I'd like to have somebody start the first post with examples of rooms done around pieces of art, or maybe some shots of what's hip in fashion this year. I haven't been paying much attention.

If we do fashion, (or art) I would be willing to set it up because I think it's been a while. I have some thoughts about how I would like to do it.

I don't think it necessarily has to be current fashion, although current fashion is so diverse, that covers an awful lot of bases. What I suggest is to use fashion as an inspiration or a particular garment as inspiration and this can drive the color scheme or the style of kitchen, and it could be done as a relatively subjective interpretation, or as objectively as you want:

Marcolo, I gave visual examples of using fashion on one of the design around this threads awhile back. I'll have to look some more because I can't remember which DAT thread I posted the idea on. I do remember I used fashion out of the Women's Black and White catalog and how the 2012 fashion was a 1980's rip-off.

Pal, I'm okay with you posting either fashion or art (I think they were the leading suggestions). As I said, I'm biased, so I'd rather throw the decision between the two to someone without a horse in the race, and you seem to fit the bill.

Jterrilyn, I'd forgotten about that post of yours. Thanks for the link. Your post may have been how the fashion idea got on the list to begin with.

It would be fun to design something around an artwork. Spiral Jetty, perhaps? Just kidding...

Cawaps, I like your Sepia Goth kitchen. It's busy, but light enough- not gloomy. The sink is AWESOME. Same with that zinc hood. The creepy dental lamp is a nice touch, but the leech jar is a must-have.

Streampunk. Heh heh heh. That's good!

Purplepansies, you have great taste in google images. You even chose a similar backsplash and faucet! The jet turbine table and the clock are great steampunk, but the tea maker takes the cake. I think those insulator lights are really pretty. The first time I saw insulators used this way was in a newspaper shot of the Edison Museum- they had dozens of them hung as pendants down a spiraling staircase, each fitted with an edison bulb.

Mtnfever, your kitchen is another pretty one- I love your Young Frankenstein table. I really love these gorgeous black and metal ranges- especially with the huge metal hoods. Time for a kitchen remodel.

This came into my email over the weekend (not sure how it found its way to me??). Thought i'd pass it on in case it interests any of you in the Boston area:

Steampunk is a movement that�s oozing into books, movies, fashion, and for some time now, home design. Imagine brass and copper, glass and polished wood, and intricate details that have been long neglected in overall design. The result is a wonderful combination of Victorian era antiques salvaged and reconstructed into clever modern day gadgets. Connoisseurs of the aesthetic have "steampunk�d" everything from computers, chairs, televisions, guitars and whole houses.

Experience Steampunk for yourself at Audio Concepts� Experience Center in Boston as they unveil their new Jules Verne room, named after the Victorian-era, science-fiction author that has inspired much of the Steampunk constructive ideas. This event is free and open to the public.

There's a jargon issue here and I'm on the wrong side of the generation gap. Please clarify what "pimp" as a verb means in a decorating context...is it "make something cheap and trashy looking" or is it "try to tart it up to sell it without spending much" or "beautify it" or "exploit it" or "the sky's the limit because this is someone else's money"?

I don't really want to see any pimped out kitchens and could really care less for fashion inspired kitchens, it would take the DAT kitchen threads too far out of my reality to be of interest. But I am only a lurker on these threads and would probably look in every once in a while no matter what you choose.

I think that the spirit in which "pimp this kitchen" was suggested was to pick an actual kitchen from a real estate listing, with the context of the home it's in, and provide a design board for remodeling it. Nothing more. The "pimp" part was tongue-in-cheek, a riff on MTV's "Pimp my Ride" for car makeovers. I haven't actually seen that show and don't know how crazy they get.